Joeboy

Was refreshing to see Murphy in his correct position, he is miles better upfront than anywhere else. I would continue with those two upfront for now. If we are going to sign anyone before the window I would put all our efforts into signing a left-sided midfielder, as much as Fitzpatrick done a job there today, having a player who naturally plays there would be good. Jennings return was noticeable instantly also today.

Obviously ability does come into somewhere down the line, but I'd say it's definitely more down to application. Alan Gow could have been a far more effective Motherwell player had he wanted to be. I mean in all his time at Motherwell, when did you ever see him win a 50-50? Challenge for the ball in the air? Hold off an opponent? Gow not being a success for us was down to him being a bottle merchant if you ask me, not his footballing ability.

Aye £100,000 is an 18 month deal for at least one player anyway, I'd certainly take that sort of fee for Reynolds if this means we're getting more than that though I'm delighted.

We've lost far greater players in the past. Not bothered by it at all.

Livingston won the diddy cup when they were pish in 2004, so no reason why we can't!

I don't think he has really. The following season he suffered with injury but he was a regular under Malpas and McGhee afterwards and only really missed the first half of last season because he was out of favour, if I remember correctly. Fitzpatrick is a useful player, one who can cover a number of positions although he will never be imposing enough to make one his own. As much as I'd like to see him stay until the end of the season, there will be plenty more useful players if he does go. As for Gow, he's had a couple of good games, but he can go just now if he wants, too afraid to get stuck in and too powderpuff physique wise to play at this level.

There's no reason why this couldn't be included in the "Lets Go On Strike Topic", no need to moan about Scottish Football shafting you in two separate topics!

Aye right enough. I'm not working out what £290 minus 17.5% plus 20% is though!

I'm actually beginning to wonder if anyone can remember the season when Maurice Malpas was in charge. Getting totally outplayed and humped 4-1 by your relegation rivals in a crucial game, followed by being two nil up against the might of St. Mirren, only to get beat 3-2 and have to rely on other results to keep you in the division, that may be considered bad, people who have been following Motherwell for longer than me will be able to tell you worse. We've been in Europe three consecutive seasons and had top half finishes four out of eight years since we came out of administration. Just because we've not won in five games doesn't make things bleak!

Yeah they'd have to charge absurd prices for tickets. 2.5% on to my season ticket is £7.25. Can't see them charging me £297.25 next year.

Aye, that's right. We beat Killie on the Saturday and then got beat off Inverness on the Monday!

That was my thinking, similar to the formation we played in the season we finished third, with Forbes playing a similar role to what Stephen Hughes did that year. He has the footballing ability to be in our team every single week, he just needs to work hard on having the athletic ability to be in the team every week.

Yeah it would be something different anyway. I at least think if we played Murphy wide of a 4-3-3, it would certainly be a lot more effective than a 4-4-2. Ross Forbes deserves a chance in my opinion, every game he's started since Brown took over has been at left wing, which just isn't his position. As for Craigan, I think we'd see a further decline if we dropped him. His distribution has always been gantin', but he's a good centre half overall!

The resemblance is uncanny. Just aswell I don't play with a big team, don't think I could cope with three pages of abuse!

Couldn't agree more, he's not a wide player in a month of Sundays! It's about time we realised how unbalanced the team is!

Doubt that, I'm still alive!

Couldn't agree more, talked about this in another thread. Jamie Murphy is no more a left winger than Forbes is.

I'd go for: ----------------------------Randolph------------------------------------ Hateley-----------Craigan-----------Reynolds------------Hammell Humphrey--------Lasley-------------Forbes---------------Fitzpatrick --------------------Murphy------------Blackman----------------------- Subs: Hollis, Saunders, Hutchinson, McHugh, Gow, Sutton, Page. If Hateley is fit I would definitely start him right back. Think he is a better right back than Saunders, and I think he's a better right back than he is a centre midfielder. Would bring Forbes in central midfield, a game in his natural position and I'd also play Fitzpatrick left midfield and push Murphy upfront. The way we lined up on Sunday is too unbalanced for Parkhead. A 2-0 defeat is the best I can see us coming away with.

Definitely the worst I can remember us playing against Rangers at Fir Park in a long time. Although he contributed with the goal, I don't think Sutton was by any means the right player to bring on for Hateley. Forbes would have been my choice, you can't rule him out based on a year of playing horribly out of position. Leitch was left footed but we would never have seen him played out wide. Even Fitzpatrick, Gow barely has the physique to play upfront let alone centre midfield. As Busta mentioned, we do need a left midfielder. Murphy is a great player in his preferred position, upfront, but he is not in a month of Sundays a left midfielder. Definitely leaves our team unbalanced, especially against decent opposition. I'd maybe even play Fitzpatrick there for now, is his contract the start or the end of the month? If we had kept it tight for ten minutes after we'd scored, you never know what could have happened. The last half hour was inept and devoid of effort, drive and any standard of football. We need a manager in and pronto.

Nail on the head. I don't think Forbes would be brilliant in the centre, but I think we would certainly do a job. Anyone can see the boys not a winger.

Of course it's not impossible, I'm just trying to be realistic. Must be great to be able to disagree with someone and not be petty about it. Oh wait......

I don't think so to be honest. Unless you find a manager who is of "Motherwell level" and knows that. Managers will tend to have a Motherwell career span more similar to James McFadden than Stephen Craigan if they are good.

Attendances in this day and age can be put down to television and media. For example, last week, had the game been at Tynecastle, I think I'd have kept the £24 quid in my back pocket less than two weeks before Christmas, sat in my warm house rather than been outside in -2c, and watched the football on skysports which has already been paid for. That's coming from an employed 20 year old who still stays at home, without any great ties. I can only imagine families, people with mortgages etc would think the same. Those who haven't bought into television controlling football are few and far between. I go to my share of away games every season, but if I notice we are away from home on the tv, I would watch that on the TV, and save my money for another away game. The same way if I hear there's a feed of us at Ibrox or Parkhead I'd watch that, whereas in the past I could have been tempted by going.

Fair enough, I'm sure we'd all like to see a highly successful manager who will stay with us for the next ten years, qualifying for Europe consistently, winning the odd cup, but we're Motherwell it's not going to happen. A long term manager at Motherwell, in this day and age, is one with limited ability or lack of ambition. Terry Butcher you could say was different, but I think this is his level, where perhaps the likes of Gannon or Brown could manage at perhaps a higher level, but even when he left Motherwell I felt he had taken us as far as he could and a fresh face would be good (although looking back, given that fresh face was Malpas I was wrong). If the push comes to the shove, and you offered me a loyal, stable manager like perhaps Gus MacPherson who managed us to 9th and 10th place finishes year after year, or what we've had recently, I'd taken recent events in a second, albeit we've been left with a sour taste in our mouths at times. Loyalty is so rare in football now, I think I'd much rather see us gub a team 8-1 in Europe, than watch us get narrowly beaten by a Championship team in a friendly played at snail's pace. A manager with ambition to further himself tends to hold us in good stead, if you take our past four managers for example. McGhee left us in far better shape than Malpas did, Gannon left us in far better shape than McGhee did, Brown left us in far better shape than Gannon did. If we appoint the right manager and he does a good job and continues to move the club forward, if after a season or two a bigger club comes in for him, I wouldn't hold any grudges, providing he conducted it in a dignified manner. I'd much rather than than see the club stagnate under a "stable" manager. Whoever the new manager is, whatever is background or previous experience is, I for one will be getting right behind him. As long as it's not Mark McGhee.

£50 definitely isn't a bad price- if they weren't so yellow and gantin I might bid myself. Get a player to donate a pair of Copa Mundials and that might go down a bit better!